Activities of Daily Living for Ageing Well

Have you ever noticed you change the way you do things or completely avoid an activity because it is getting too much, or it is painful?

Have you accepted these changes as a normal part of ageing?

Limited movement is not an everyday part of ageing; you do not need to have those constant aches and pains.

Of course, there are natural consequences of ageing, however implementing strategies like ground to standing exercises, will help create a foundation where you can continue doing the things you love to do. Not only does it build a more durable and resilient body it promotes longevity.

How can you feel like a spring chicken?

We begin ageing the moment we are born. Unfortunately, we canâ€™t change that, but we can influence those things that limit us from feeling like a spring chicken and improve our longevity and durability.

The idea of successful ageing or keeping forever young is not exclusive to our mature, adult population. Through environmental and lifestyle changes over time we have adapted to a more sedentary existence, therefore, we start to see a loss of function, capability and movement integrity at earlier ages as well.

An Accredited Exercise Physiologist, is uniquely placed, to create the right environment for your body to develop, maintain and feel good.Â By introducing regular exercise designed to address your individual needs we can help your body relax, change and feel better.

How exercise helps us keep forever young and ageing well:

Being able to take up oxygen, retain it and circulate it to your working muscles is called metabolic capacity. Meaning how well our body uses and delivers oxygen to working cells when we move and complete our activities of daily living.

Promoting tissue repair, hormone release such as collagen for skin and muscle repair, endorphins for improved mood, and helps keep our body in a homeostasis state. Essentially this helps the body find its equilibrium as well as helping the regulation of cell health. This is what keeps us feeling good.

Understanding and developing coping strategies for both internal and external stresses, this is called, efficiency of stress response. Stress is necessary for adaptation, therefore, developing exercise strategies for your body to manage different stresses will help with your overall health.

A Great Intervention: Ground to Standing Exercises

Ageing can be defined as the loss of function and adaptability. The Brazilian ground to standing screen explores a function many people lose over time- the ability to safely and effectively get up and down off the ground in various ways.

Try the following test:

Please note: if you have recently had surgery, experience postural intolerance or are not confident with this screen, please discuss with your Accredited Exercise Physiologist on safe variations and when it is appropriate to perform the screen.

How did it feel?

Did you need to use your hands or legs?

Did you take some time to process what your brain wants your body to do?

Activities of dily living demand we be strong in a variety of ways which is why exploring ground to standing flows and sequences is important.

The Benefits of Ground to Standing Routines

There are many ways, both simple and complex, to get up and down off the ground. It can be challenging not only for your body but also for your mind.

It is a great type of training that targets all three limiting factors to longevity and there are many variations to suit anyone at any level of fitness.

Incorporating ground to standing routines will have you:

Exploring your mobility, strength and confidence

Restoring and improving your strength to get up and down

Restoring or improving body weight strength

Increasing whole body mobility

Improving circulation

Improving co-ordination

Moving in 3D motions

Creating more robust bones and muscles to keep you moving better for longer

Restoring or improving biorhythms

Injecting a dose of natural high that comes from exercising

When we move in a rhythm, such as ground to standing flows, our entire body is sharing the responsibility of transmitting movement and force, therefore creating a more robust and strong architecture. This is critical and vital to health and wellbeing and will help restore and improve a solid foundation. Humans are designed to move in a continuous and seamless sequence in both life and sport.

Keep feeling forever young and continue to enjoy the activities you love to do by implementing ground to standing routines in your program today.